Process of treating fdr



July 21, 1936. I 1, REFFEL 2,048,030

' PROCESS OF TREATING FUR Filed June 5, 1935 PREPARING FOR PLUCKING SOFTENING THE FUR Soaking Drying POWDER/N6 PLUCKING PREPARING FOR SHAV/NG DRESSING TANNING and "E66 YOLK"TREATMENT SOAKING DRYING SAWDUST DRUMMING SHAVINQ AND STRETCH/N6 PREPARATION FOR SECOND 'SHAVING GREASING THE LEATHER CLEANING THE LEATHER SECOND SHAVING PREPARING FOR UNHA/R/NG' CLEAN/N6 BEAT/N6 UNHAIRING SHEAR/N6 PREPARING FOR RESHEAR/NG- ST/FFENING FURS RESHEARING INVENTOR ISADDRE RE/FFEL ATTORN EY Patented July 21, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE rnocnss oi zfialmc run Isadore Beiflel, Mount Vernon, N. Y. Application June 5, 1935, Serial No. 24,99?

6 Claims. (01. 149-28) This invention relates to a process of treating fur, being particularly applicable to,. beaver and nutria for making such skins more presentable, lighter and less expensive.

' It is known in the fur industry that there is Garments made therefrom are known to be large,

1o heavy and bulky, and not as attractive in appear-. ance as the more expensive furs. Particularly when it becomes wet does it lose whatever attractive properties it may possess due to the fact that the long fur hair is subject to a curling tendency is under such conditions. Furthermore, beaver and nutria contain certain long coarse guard hair interspersed between the fine fur hair resulting in a surface bespecked with many shiny spots. It is hence for the purpose of eliminating these dis- 20 advantages characteristic of such sln'ns that I have conceived this invention, which is for a process of treating or dressing such furs to reduce their weight for convenient wearing purposes, to prevent curling of the furand thereby avoid the '25 resulting shabby appearance thereof when wet;

and to further beautify such pelts by eliminating the unsightly guard hair, exposing to view the lighter colors near the underwool of a beaver skin to produce a striped effect, giving a higher gloss 30 to the fur surface and imparting a velvet-like texture thereto,a1l of which constitute some of the objects of my invention. Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the description of the process hereinafter given.

85 Although this invention contains steps specifically directed to accomplish the above-mentioned objects, they maybe combined with other commonly known steps employed in the ordinary dresing of fur; and hence in the description 40 hereinafter given certain steps not entirely necessary are referred to merely to clarify the nature of the entire process and help in the description thereof.

The drawing forming a part of this application constitutes a flow .sheet showing the essential steps of the process of my invention.

As applied to beaver, the first objective of my invention is to remove the coarse guard hairs,-

this being accomplished by plucking or pulling volving cage to remove the saw-dust. The beavers are then folded up and hung in a dry room so that the hair will dry, but the leather remain partially moist. when they are removed from the dry room, the hair is powdered with chalk or whiting, placing the pelts in condition for the plucking operation.

The step of plucking is accomplished by placing theskin on a beam and operatively applying to the fur thereof a heavy dull-edged curved knife, 10 thereby pulling out most of the relatively stiff, accessible guard hair from the fur. Although this is the preferred method of performing the first plucking operation, other methods can be employed within the scope of this invention. It should be noted that this operation is considerably facilitated by the previous step of powdering, inasmuch as the chalk or whiting increases the effective frictional grip of the plucking tool upon the hair which, if uncoated, might be too smooth for operative emcacy.

The fur is then put through a dressing process including the steps of removing the chalk, soaking the skins until soft, wringing out the solution in an extractor, cutting away surface fat, meat, etc., and if necessary, again soaking the skin and extracting the solution as heretofore until it is almost dry. Thereafter in accordance with one form of practicing my invention, the combined tanning operation and egg yolk treatment is performed, which includes the step of placing the skin into a water-tight revolving drum containing tanning chemicals to which is added a small quantity,'generally 1%, of what I call an egg yolk solution, comprising 80% salt free egg yolk,

10% lycerin and 10% castorroil,these percentages being by volume, the proportions being approximate and subject to variation in accordance with conditions. This solution is added for the purpose of giving beaver or nutria a high 40 gloss, and for the further purpose of preparing the leather for the shaving operation which will hereinafter be described as another step in my process to produce a paper-like thinness thereof without injuring the fur. To further prepare the skin for the shaving operation, it is wrung out in an extractor, dried, run in saw-dust drums until it becomes pliable, and then the saw-dust is removed by rotatirig the skin in a revolving cage.

It should be noted that in the tanning process,

hereinabove mentioned, various agents may be employed,a suitable formula comprising salt, alum, sal ammoniac and sal soda in various proportions depending upon conditions.

' When the fur is thus prepared, it is ready for weight pelt to be obtained. as the leather is being thus shaved, the skin is being simultaneously stretched, thereby not only helping the shaving operation but producing a larger-and lighter skin.

The skins are thereafterprepared for a second shaving operation, by greasing the leather with mineral oils and animal fats, mechanically pounding these oils and fats into the leather,

7 aosaoso the combined leather shaving and stretching oppart by weight of starch to eight parts of sawdust,--the rice starch having the effect of stiffening the tops of the fur hairs so as to render .them more susceptible to the action of the cutmentioned unhairing and shearing steps.

revolving the skins in saw-dust drums until the a surface grease is absorbed but permitting the grease in the leather to be retained therein. The saw-dust is then removed and the solution of soap and water applied to the leather side of the skin, after w'hiehthe pelt isin condition for the second shaving operation.

The completion of the last preparing operation now permits the second shaving step to be performed to cut the leather down to an exceedingly fine thickness,the operation being preferably though not necessarily performed on a circular shaving machine. Although I prefer a circular machine for this step, anyother leather slicing method may be employed within the scope of this invention.

After further driunmings of the fur and the removal of the dust therefrom if it is considered necessary to further clean same and render the leather more soft and pliable, the skins are prepared for a subsequent operation which will hereinafter be referred to as unhairing. One of the essential steps in preparation therefor consists of the operation of beating up the fur preferably with heavy reed sticks, to make the coarse hair more visible. By this step the hairs and 'fur are loosened up, and folded up or covered guard hair caused to stand up so as to be exposed for the next step.

When this is completed, the'unhairing operation is performed, consisting of the step of cutting off the coarse guard hairs at their roots, so as not to be visible, or discernible by touch through the soft fine fur. This operation may be done either by machine or by hand, the specific step rather than the specific means being an element of this invention.

The next important step is that of shearing, .or cutting the fur to such predetermined height ,as is considered expedient by experience. A special shearing machine is preferably employed for this purpose consisting of a plurality of cylindrically disposed blades set at an angle and cooperating with a stationary knife set close thereto, the revolution of the cylinder producing a shearing action. This operation, as stated, shortens the fur, reduces the weight of the pelt as a result thereof and also, when applied to beaver, exposes the lighter underwool at the roots of the fur to produce a striped effect not ordinarily seen in the usual heavy beaver skins.

At this stage it is possible that not all the fur has been sheared to a uniform height due to the fact that some of the, fur hairs may have been bent over during the shearing process, permitting the blades to pass thereover without cutting them. '16 prepare the skin for a reshearing operation, the skins are given a very careful drumming with saw-dust to which is added preferably rice starch in the approximate proportion of one The last important step in the process is the reshearing operation, similar to the shearing step above described, but repeated for removing any high spots disclosed by the glazing operation, and making the fur more uniform, to produce 20 a smooth, even and velvet-like texture.

It is of course obvious that beaver or nutria processed by my invention will not only be lighter in weight, but more beautiful in appearance i...- reasons already set forth. Furthermore, inasso much as the fur treated by this process, is much shorter, the curling tendencies heretofore considered inherently characteristic of beavers when exposed to moisture are entirely eliminated.

The process constituting my invention may contain all of the steps above mentioned, or where experience dictates otherwise, certain of the steps may be omitted,,depending upon the nature of the skin, the section of the country from which it came, the season it was pelted and other considerations. The important steps, however, namely plucking, shaving, unhairing, shearing and reshearing .are necessary in practically every .case where this process is to be applied to previously untreated'beaver or nutria, in .yiew of the fact that these steps are directed to reducing weight, shortening the hairs and removing the unsightly guard hairs. Where, however, certain of the steps are unnecessary, due to a previous processing or the very nature of the skin, certain parts of this process can independently be emplayed to perform the functions intended for them, such as treating a skin merely to remove the guard hair, or to reduce the height of the fur hairs,--all without employing the other steps of the process.

It is of course understood that modifications of the steps and departures from the specific procedure hereinbefore outlined may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit ofthis invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a method of treating beaver,-the steps of drumming the skin in a mixture of one part of rice starch and eight parts of saw-dust to stiffen the tops of the fur, and shearing the fur to a predetermined height.

2. In a method of treating a beaver fur skin and the like, the steps of operatively applying a mixture of rice starch and saw-dust to the fur to 65 stiffen the tops thereof, and shearing the fur to a predetermined height.

3. In a method of treating a fur skin, the steps of operatively apphring rice starch to the fur to stiffen thetops thereof, and shearing the 70 fur to a predetermined height.

and the like, the steps of shearing the fur to a. to a. predetermined length, drumming the skin predetermined length, stiffening the fur, brushing with a mixture of sawdust and rice starch to the fur to straighten up unsheared'iurs, and restifien the tops of the furs, brushing the fur t0 shearing the fur to level it oil and further reduce straighten up unsheared furs, and reshearing the 5 the height thereof. fur to level it 01! and further reduce the height 5 6. In a. method 0! treating a fur skin, the steps thereof.

or cutting oil the guard hairs, shearing the fur ISADORE REIFFEL. 

